You can never be arrogant and say Im iconic and let me go ahead and drop my brand name Mr Rajamannar said Raja Rajamannar chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard Photo Mastercard It works for Mastercard but wouldnt for many brands said Debbie Millman chair of the Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts The only brands that are able to do this have developed a logo with global recognition over decades she said in a text message It takes time consistency and a good logo to begin with to be able to do this effectively Marketers often want an abstract symbol to stand for their company said Michael Bierut partner at the design consulting firm Pentagram which led the development of Mastercards new look People really want that Nike swoosh or Apple apple he said The trick is you cant fast-forward that process really Newsletter Sign-up In addition to allowing for a broader business than cards the new logo stands out better on portable digital devices Mr Bierut said Youre trying to optimize for a very small piece of real estate on a very small piece of glass he said It might not even be a mobile phone it might even be a watch face Having to work in a 10-letter name in that is kind of a monster Consumers will encounter the new logo at varying times as banks work through their existing stock of cards with the prior logo for example and Mastercard builds brand recognition in certain developing markets Write to Nat Ives at NatIves wsjcom